The author, Kyle Kelly-Yahner, built a phone line that plays only Smashmouth's "All Star" to understand humanity's fascination with the song. The line received 1,200 calls in a few months, sparking curiosity and leading to an investigation into human behavior. The data collected from the calls revealed interesting insights, such as the song's popularity varying by region, with the Northeast loving it more than other areas. The author also found that people's reactions to the song ranged from love to hate, with some listening for long periods while others lasted only a second. The experiment raised questions about human behavior and sparked curiosity among social scientists.